Chip shows Aarey leopard same cat caught in January

Chip shows Aarey leopard same cat caught in January
Oct 30, 2013, 03.06 AM IST

MUMBAI: A microchip inside the leopard caught in Aarey colony on Monday showed it was the same female trapped nine months ago in the area.

The animal was released at an undisclosed location in the wild; the forest department said it was not a man-eater as it was healthy enough to hunt.

The spotted big cat was trapped near Adarsh Nagar on both occasions. The area has seen a great deal of man-animal conflict.

Trapped in the morning on Monday by the forest department, the leopard might have been responsible for the recent attacks on humans, said KP Singh, chief conservator of forests, Thane.

"As the animal is not a human being, whose fingerprints can be verified, we cannot be certain that it is the same animal behind the attacks," Singh said. "However, we have reason to believe that it may have been the one."

Singh said the animal was released in February inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park after it was first caught in January.

"We tracked this particular leopard based on a month's data," Singh said. "We studied the leopard's patterns and noticed that the leopard would often stray into the area. Locals, too, had described a similar leopard in the region."

A thorough examination of the animal found that it was healthy and in perfect shape, and unlikely to be a man-eater.

"This leopardess is perfectly capable of catching prey in the wild.

The reason she probably strayed into the region around Aarey Milk Colony is easy availability of prey," Singh said, adding that Aarey colony had 57 stray dogs per square kilometre, easy prey for a leopard.

Singh said the leopard probably mistook small children for animals like dogs and attacked them.

"This does not mean the leopard is a man-eater. As she is in perfect health, it is our duty to release the animal into the wild. Such an animal would not attack adult humans.

While Aarey Colony has numerous human settlements, the forest department has released the leopard into a thickly forested area, far from human habitat, where she can hunt for her natural prey. The department does not wish to disclose the location where the animal has been released. It is routine practice for the department to release animals trapped close to human settlements into more forested areas.

Spot unchanged

The leopard was first trapped in January around Adarsh Nagar, Aarey Colony, and released in February in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

The leopard was trapped once again near Adarsh Nagar on Monday morning. By Tuesday, the leopard had been released in an undisclosed location.